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Ghulmia
Ghulmia is a Skull Priestess, believed to be an ancient liche allied with the Skull Creatures. History Little to nothing is known of her past. From what has been told in old tales, she was part of an ancient order of mages, serving as a diplomat. One day, she and several other warlocks stumbled across a massive entity, and noted its augmentations of the Skull Creatures worshiping it. Taking an interest in this creature, they began conducting a number of experiments on it. Their superiors learned of their actions, however, and summoned them before the council. A battle began, with Ghulmia and her crew slaughtering most of the guild. They returned to the beast, where they would transform themselves into the liches they are known as today. Legends claim that that at some point after that, the Skull Priests scattered to the winds. Ghulmia would go on to research various rituals and arts, eventually uncovering one regarding a crimson star. With the magicks she obtained, she managed to harness its power and draw it into herself. Enhancing her power with the star's, she returned to the lair of the dark beast and confronted Fulgor, intent on enslaving it and taking his authority. A duel endured between the two, with the leader being the victor. As punishment for her rebellion, she was imprisoned within a stone sarcophagus. Thousands of years later, Kripta's archaeology group discovered her tomb. One of their members accidentally triggered a trap, which triggered a machine that spawned a portal. Her tomb and the crew were sent into the Shadow Realm. Years later, a patrol of Makuta's minions stumbled across the stone coffin. Breaking its magical seal, the goons unwittingly freed the Priestess from her prison. She returned the favor by destroying them, and fly off into the eternal night sky. For the next few years, she spent a great deal of her time searching for an exit from the dimension. She eventually learned of Makuta's presence within the Shadow Realm, and caught word that he has been preparing to make an escape. An idea formed in her head, and thus she sought out someone to carry out her plan. She eventually recruited an eccentric scholar, promising him great knowledge in exchange for his services. His first task was to discover the location of Makuta's private vault, where the Mask Hoarder kept his most prized possessions. He succeeded in this, but he was unable to crack it open. However, fortune fell upon them when they discovered Kripta's survival, as well as her fair share of arcane treasure. Ghulmia sent the agent to spy on her, learn of her hideout's location, its defenses, and report back to her. Once she learned all she needed to, she attacked the safe-house, the servant having disabled most of its wards by the time of her arrival. She pillaged the area while her spy incapacitated the Okotan, and made her way to Makuta's base. There, she offered it to him as a favor, in exchange for an alliance. Makuta agreed, and welcomed her among his army. He told her of his plans, and how he intended to carry them out. In reality however, she was only keeping him occupied while her spy stowed away in the loot, carried by the Mask Hoarder's guard. Once they placed the goods in the vault, her agent emerged from the chest housing him and removed the protective wards from the inside. Once the shields were down, Ghulmia slipped in and stole a number of relics. Makuta quickly became aware of her treachery, but it was already too late: she had made off with enough materials to forge her own escape plan. She returned to her lair with her spoils, and immediately went to work on conducting a ritual. However, she quickly realized that she lacked the energy needed to create a portal. She sent a scout to plant a rune within the Mask Maker's fortress, to siphon out the energies he would summon to create his own portal. When his plan of escape failed, it sent whatever power it could salvage to her. She began the ritual shortly after, and managed to escape. However, she was caught off-guard by the arrival of Kripta, who leapt through the gate with her. A brief skirmish occurred between the two, with Ghulmia blasting the novice sorceress into the sea. She teleported back to her original lair after that, hidden somewhere on Okoto. She is currently plotting a new scheme of conquering the island (and possibly even beyond it as well). Her first step is to collect the Masks of her fallen brothers. Abilities and Traits Ghulmia is infamous for her cunning and treachery, her sharpest tools being her mind and a silver tongue. Legends say she was able to turn tribes against one another with carefully crafted lies, and would often orchestrate "attacks" to back her words. However, given the tale of her failure to assert power within the Skull Priests, it does seem to indicate that she is not as skilled at manipulation as she believes herself to be. Some records claim that she attempted to flee from the scene once one of her schemes failed, indicating a cowardly side within her personality. She carries a great deal of arrogance as well, even going as far as to consider Makuta a, quote; "Child in warrior's armor". Like many of Okoto's undead, she possess a metallic skeletal structure. While she possess mechanical implants like many of the island's life, most of the organic material on her body seems to still be present on her (albeit in a decayed stated). In fact, she seems to lean towards the organic side of bio-mechanical lifeforms (eerily similar to the warrior-class race of Spherus Magna). In place of her eyes are glowing yellow orbs, often theorized to be extensions of her very soul. As member of the Skull Priests, she is a skilled user of the arcane arts. In her case, she is adept with the dark arts and knowledgeable of various rituals. Other abilities included forming an energy shield around herself, limited telekinesis, teleportation, levitation, and telepathy. The latter power grants her some control over Skull Creatures (though specimens such as Kulta and Skull Basher are too powerful for her influence). Ghulmia also has some skill in a dark art called "necromancy", the reanimation of the dead. One of her specialties is Dark Elemental Energy, a power said to cancel out the Elemental energies within beings. Mask and Tools Like the rest of her kinsmen, she bears a unique Mask of Power. In her case, it is the "Mask of Dark Elemental Energy". With this, she is capable of harnessing this energy to drain her targets of their Elemental Energy supply. And while many of the Skull Priests carried weapons, she did not. The closest thing to a weapon would be her claws, often charged with some form of energy. Trivia * Ghulmia was inspired by Omnigul, an antagonist from the videogame Destiny. The Skull Priests in turn were influenced by the Dragon Priests of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. * Her colorscheme was inspired by the Creatures of Grimm, an antagonistic force from the RWBY web-animation series. Category:Skull Creatures Category:Shadow Category:Generation 2